Yankees’ Jon Berti lands on injured list after scary fall running out of box

SAN DIEGO — An important Yankees bench piece is back on the shelf, and could be there for a while.

Jon Berti landed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a left calf strain that he suffered running out of the box in the ninth inning of Friday’s win over the Padres at Petco Park.

Berti had just finished up an MRI exam when Aaron Boone spoke to reporters on Saturday afternoon, but the manager said he still did not have an update on the severity of the strain after the Yankees’ 4-1 win over the Padres . But it looked serious in the moment as Berti hit the deck after taking a few steps up the line and needed some help getting off the field.

Though Boone said he initially feared an Achilles injury, that was ruled out through tests on Friday night.

“That said, I’ve had a calf strain, probably more minor than the one he’s got and I know it takes some time,” Boone said. “We’ll see what we have and see what the time frame is.”

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The Yankees replaced Berti on the roster by selecting the contract of infielder Kevin Smith from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Smith is expected to be just a placeholder until DJ LeMahieu returns from the IL, likely on Tuesday in Anaheim.

To make room for Smith on the 40-man roster, the Yankees transferred LeMahieu to the 60-day IL, though he is still eligible to be activated on Tuesday.

Berti, acquired from the Marlins before Opening Day to bolster the Yankees’ infield depth, missed nearly a month earlier this season with a groin strain.

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But in 17 games, he was batting .273 with four steals — including hitting .306 with a .748 OPS in 11 games since returning from the IL.

“He’s a really good complement to our team,” Boone said. “Hopefully this is something that doesn’t knock him down too long because he does become a very important part of our bench moving forward.”

LeMahieu, meanwhile, continued his rehab assignment on Saturday with SWB, playing seven innings at third base. He is set to play again on Sunday in what is expected to be his final rehab game.

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After all three homered in Friday’s 8-0 win, Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton had combined for 43 home runs through the Yankees’ first 53 games.

Entering Saturday, that was more than four full teams (the Rays, Tigers, Cardinals and White Sox) had recorded and tied four more teams (the Rockies, Marlins, Blue Jays and Nationals).

“Wow,” Stanton said with a grin when informed of the stat. “Yeah, that’s pretty cool. But all I can say is, I don’t know, we got a lot more to go.”

Ian Hamilton is on track to be activated off the COVID IL on Sunday. … Jose Trevino, who has been dealing with an illness, is expected to start Sunday’s series finale and catch Clarke Schmidt.

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